Luke 8:4-15
Joanna Camick
Learning
about the parable of the Sower and the Seed.
We found out that the seed was God’s Word. Reading part Luke 8: 4-8. And when a great
crowd was gathering, people from town to town came to him , he said in the
parable, a sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed some fell on the
path and was trampled and the birds devoured it, and some fell on the rock and
it grew up and withered away because there was no moisture and some fell on the
thorn and the thorn grew up and choked, and some fell on good soil and grew and
yielded a hundredfold. And he said he
who has ears, let them hear.
The
first type of the soil is what I an going to talk about. The seed fell on that
hard path. This seem to represent some of the difficult lives that many of the
campers experienced on a daily basis. Some of these were divorce, un supported
families, bullied, and even the death of a sibling. It became apparent to me
that these kids could benefit from God’s word.
But God’s word is found in the Bible but not only in the Bible. It can also
be found in a Pastor’s Sermon, at camp, Family Fun Night, in the aid provided
for victims like at Matthew 25 ministries. We also assisted them and I enjoyed
it, but let the words to this song be the seed in your own heart. It is called
Light of the World.
Joanna sang:
Light of the World
Giver of creation, bringer of salvation
Word of God, eternal life
Praise the Son of God
Promised One of Heaven
To bring us to your Kingdom
Rescued us from darkness
Praise the Son of God
Jesus, light of the world
Shine on us, shine on us
Word of life, spoken for love
Breathe on us, breathe on us
Light of the world, King Jesus
Darkness will obey your voice
Weakness will in you rejoice
You have bound the broken heart
Praise the Son of God
Jesus
You have shown your father's heart
You have shown your father's heart
And to us you will impart
The holiness of all you are
Praise the Son of God
Jesus, light of the world
Shine on us, shine on us
Word of life, spoken for love
Breathe on us, breathe on us
Light of the world, King Jesus
Shine, breathe, live through us
Shine, breathe, live through us
Shine, breathe,…
Pastor Jeff Cooper
VISUALIZING THE
SCRIPTURE
1)
What was the soil like in vs6?
Rocky with very little dirt which means it could not hold
moisture.
However - the farmer
still scattered his/her seed on that rocky soil.
Scattering by hand - means it is an
individual and the farmer is personally touching the seed and determines where
the seed will be scattered.
How would you describe a person who is considered
rocky soil?
They seem somewhat interested, but
they are not yet on board. They have good intentions with bad follow through.
1)
Why would a farmer scatter their seed?
To cover as much ground as possible.
2)
What was the second soil like in vs6?
Rocky with very little dirt which means it could not hold
moisture.
3)
What is the rocky soil in your life that blocks the word of
God from growing in you?
(Going to church but not investing myself, reading the
bible but not studying it, living one way on Sunday and differently Mon-Sat.,
etc.)
What can you do to
cultivate the rocky soil in your life?
Be intentional about your personal
relationship with Jesus - focus more on him.
a)
Proverbs 4:25-27
Let
your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level
paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the
right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
Spend time regularly in God’s word
that has been planted in you.
2 Timothy 3:14-17
But
as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of,
because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have
known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man
of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
3)
Spend time praying for those “rocky” areas in your life. Pray for the ability
to get rid of distractions and focus on God’s word daily. (ex. Download a bible
app www.bible.com and start a reading plan, pick a time every day to read God’s
word, read it when waiting for something else, ex. at a doctor’s office or
waiting on the school bus)
When
Jesus said this, he called out, "He who has
ears to hear, let him hear."
Nathan Cooper
The third kind of
soil. That is the soil with thorns and the text tells us. It’s very rare that
we get students that aren’t already Christians. Our camp is typically geared
for students who already know Christ to take it home and share it with their
friends. Coming into the week we knew of four kids who did not yet know Christ
as their personal Lord and Savior. We had the chance to pray with them and till
up their soil and pull out their rocks and weeds. By the end of the week, three
of those students that we know of had accepted Christ. So when they came to
camp, I don’t know which soil they were but at the time they weren’t yet in
good soil. But throughout the week,
that’s what happened. The soil got and it was an amazing thing that happened on
Thursday evening to see these students that we had prayed for come to faith /
You can’t just plant seeds in a garden and expect to come back later and have a
beautiful harvest croup. You must constantly be tending it and maintaining it
to keep that soil good.
Dan Camick
What I saw was a
father and son team that worked dynamically to produce growth for the Lord.
I think you should know what a super job Nathan did as Camp Director and
what a super job Pastor Jeff did as camp Pastor. As if our clapping could encourage them
more. I don’t know that they need that
but I thought you should know. Pastor Jeff has some theatrical background and
he put on these skits or mime that portrayed God’s presence in the lives of
individuals attending camp. Nathan had an opportunity to preach. And he read
scriptures. There were campfire opportunities where the lights wouldn’t allow
him to to read any notes but the Lord was moving around that campfire hearts
were melted . The Holy Spirit was really present.
Nathan assigned me to
do devotionals. Nathan encouraged them to take the little booklets that he had
prepared and write down some things from a morning devotional to think about
during the day and reflect on their heart.
They did it and they were really compliant campers that were really
letting the Good Shepherd mold them from an unholy being to a pleasing into a
Holy pleasing offering to God. It was
kind of amazing. I really encourage our
church to make that happen again.
Here is what Jesus
said in a story right around the same time as he told this parable of the
sower. It comes in Matthew 9:35. It says that Jesus traveled through all the
towns and villages of that area teaching in the synagogues and announcing the
good news about the kingdom and he healed every kind of disease and illness.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused
and helpless like a sheep without a shepherd and he (meaning Jesus) said to his
disciples. The harvest is ready to be
planted with seed. I saw some lives that were ready to be reaped. Counselor
staff, people cleaning bathrooms, people cooking the food, I saw that happening
as laborers for one purpose, for the hearts of individuals to change for Jesus
Christ. Now the laborers are few. I woke up this morning with my back hurting,
my feet hurting, my ankles itching, my arms itching and this one spot on my
back that I can’t reach and I thought, that takes a lot of laborer to do that
but I am convinced that even through the partnership that we have through
Matthew 25 ministries and churches like ours that we can provide much more
laborers into the field. Maybe they turn into dollars, maybe they have to be
written by a check or something like that but we have an opportunity to send
laborers into the field. And I think Jesus was talking to us when he said the
laborers are few. This ministry of Camp
Kirkwood has been going on for a long time. Dad something like this, that one
week at camp is equal to a whole year of Sunday School. Somehow I saw this
transition that would take years to happen in the course of a weekend. One
other thing that Jesus has asked us, is to pray for the harvest. So we pray for
the harvest, we pray for the laborers, and I just pray that those kids who
received that seed continue to receive the fertilizer and the nutrients that a
good field can bring. And that’s the other thing that we can do Ashland, is to be
a fertile ground for growth in the Lord. So I encourage you that way as well.
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